Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 93699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“I’m aware.” I make a mental note to catch up with Hayden later this week. “Speaking of rest, Crown, I really need to hit the ice bath. I’ll call you tomorrow night, alright?”
“Wait.” She pauses. “If something was going wrong in your life or if you were ever in any trouble, you would tell me, right?”
Wrong. “Of course, Crown. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Talk later.”
I wait until she ends the call and then fill my tub with ice.
Sinking down to my neck, I try not to think about how many fights I’ll need to take to keep me and Penelope afloat for another month.
Half frozen, I’m studying the current welterweight champion’s workout routine on The Snarky Glove blog when a new text message appears on my screen.
Text from Tatiana:
Hey.
I squint, making sure I’m not imagining things.
Me:
I thought you blocked me…?
Text from Tatiana:
I did, but now I’ve temporarily unblocked you. (Keyword: temporarily)
Me:
How can we make this arrangement permanent?
Text from Tatiana:
We can’t. Anyway, I’m only messaging you because my stepsister can’t seem to shut up since seeing you at the afterparty. She really wants your phone number, so is it okay if I give it to her?
Me:
Does she want it so we can talk about *you*?
Text from Tatiana:
Probably not.
Me
Then don’t give it to her. Tell her I’m flattered she’s talking about me & I hope to see her at my next fight.
Her name crosses my screen via phone call within seconds.
“Yes, Tati?” I answer.
“It’s ‘Tatiana’ to you.”
For now…
“I don’t understand the problem here.” Her voice sounds even sultrier now than it does in person. “My stepsister is like, actually attracted to you.”
“A lot of women are.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Truth hurts.”
“Look.” She pauses. “Not that my stepsister and I are on the best of terms or anything, but she’s a pretty good catch for a guy like you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She’s obsessed with combat sports, gets joy out of bullying complete strangers, and if you ever need someone to hang out with at night—”
“I’ll call and ask you.”
Silence.
“I have a boyfriend, Travis,” she says finally. “I’m one hundred percent unavailable.”
“I’m willing to wait until that changes.”
“What the—” She sucks in a small breath. “Since you’re clearly lacking comprehension skills, my mentioning the boyfriend implies that you don’t stand a chance with me.”
“At this time.” I smile. “If I go out with your stepsister, that permanently ruins my chances, correct?”
“Your chances were ruined the moment you left me that first mean voicemail.”
“I was a different person back then.”
“Your latest message was literally a week ago.”
“That’s still in the past.” I place her on speakerphone and get out of the tub. “If it makes you feel any better, if I’d known what you looked like before now, I would’ve never left any of those messages.”
“The only thing that’ll make me feel better is ending this phone call.”
“Be my guest.”
I wait for her to end it, but the final beeping sound never comes.
I can still hear her soft breathing.
“You should give me ten minutes since you never showed up at the party,” I say. “Why are you up this late?”
“Because I’m—” She hesitates for a few seconds, and I’m convinced she’s moments away from hanging up on me.
“I can’t sleep.” Her tone is slightly softer. “I’m sitting in bed looking at my last performance and taking notes. Turns out, even with a perfect score, there are still some things I could’ve done better.”
“That’s the downside of wanting to be the best.”
“Yeah, tell me about it…”
Neither of us says a word as I dress for the gym and grab my bag.
“Why are you still up?” she asks.
“I needed to take an ice bath before my workout.”
“Shouldn’t you be resting since you just fought?”
“I can’t afford to rest at this stage in my career.” I lock my door and head down the staircase. “I can’t afford to lose a single match.”
“You’re undefeated?”
“I always will be.” I smile. “Whenever I make it to the UFC and become number one in the world, I probably still won’t rest.”
“Well, whenever I’m number one in the world, I plan on traveling to an exotic resort for a month-long vacation.”
“Are you planning to have a second job by then?” I raise my eyebrow. “Figure skaters don’t make that type of money last time I checked.”
“Screw you.” She bursts into laughter, turning me on even more. “You never know what could happen.”
“You’re right, I take that back.” I cross the street and walk toward the SportsPlex. “Tell me everything your stepsister said about the afterparty.”
She launches into a recap of things that definitely did not happen, but I don’t bother setting the record straight.
I scan my stolen badge at the front door and walk inside the building.
In the midst of Tatiana describing her stepsister’s obsession with “taking a selfie with anyone who has a chance of getting famous,” I hear classical music playing on the lower level.